200 deported Colombians included pregnant women and children — but no criminals
200 deported Colombians included pregnant women and children — but no criminals
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The White House falsely labels all immigrants in the country without legal permission ‘criminals’ as ICE aggressively ramps up sweeping arrests. But despite the administration’s insistence that Trump’s “mass deportation” agenda would target violent offenders, none appeared to be on board.
![[Trump nearly ignited a trade war after Colombia initially refused to accept deportation flights on military aircraft, with officials in the country urging the U.S. president to use civilian aircraft]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2025/01/29/16/00/COLOMBIA-EU-MIGRATION-i1fh36kj.jpeg)
Another flight from El Paso, Texas, carried 46 men, 45 women, and five children. “Everyone is in good condition,” Murillo said in Spanish in a video statement Tuesday. “They are not criminals,” he said. “This information has been verified and corroborated by competent authorities following the protocols established for deportation flights. … And this is done as established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and organizations such as the International Migration Organization, because being a migrant is not a crime.”.
On January 20, days before he was put on a plane after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, Oquendo was told by a border agent that “the fun is over.”. He was on a plane bound for Colombia eight days later, according to CNN. “It was very confusing: Nobody told us anything,” he said. “They told us the flight to Bogota was going to be seven hours, but when we landed, it was 10 hours, and as soon as the back door for the plane opened, we could see an ambulance saying ‘Houston.’”.
The plane was still in the United States. Colombia had initially refused to accept the military planes, with President Gustavo Petro arguing that his country wanted to secure the arrival of immigrants in “dignified conditions” using civilian aircraft.
